Thursday, July 24, 2008

Will The Real Crocodile Dundee Please Stand Up

Possibly the first thing that an American thinks of when they think of Australia is Crocodile Dundee, with a tall lanky figure that wrestles crocodiles in good fun "mate." Perhaps, when the rest of Australia thinks of the Northern Territory, the same image comes to mind. After all the true life character that Crocodile Dundee was based on was from the Northern Territory (Katherine?). Rodney Ansell was his name. While out fishing on the Victoria River, his boat capsized, and he ended up living and wandering around the wild for two months before being found by a cattle drive. We were told (this isn't in the wikipedia article) that he eventually got mixed up with drugs which eventually caused his demise...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Day at the Races

Tony: Hey, boss! C'mere! Sun-Up is the worst horse on the track!
Dr. Hackenbush: I notice he wins all the time.
Tony: Aw, just because he comes in first.
Dr. Hackenbush: Well, I don't want 'em any better than first.



Yep, on Saturday (19-7-08) we got our Marx Brothers on and went the Darwin Race course in Fannie Bay with Chris, Fiona, and Clare. It was amazing how similar it was to scenes of horse race tracks in some of those British movies. Women wore their frocks and hats.



Men dressed up too, but then again, it's still Darwin.



We ended up betting (punting) on 4 races, where each person picked their horse and we bet the pool on that one. David's initial strategy was to point at the racing form and see if Clare approved or disapproved, but she would simply respond by saying "Anana?" So this didn't work, as there was no horses by the name of Banana. Instead, Jenni and David adopted the strategy of betting on the favorites to win...and low and behold they one. So if you exclude the entrance fee, and drinks, we came out on top! Not bad.










[examining Stuffy with an auriscope]
Dr. Hackenbush: I haven't seen anything like this in years. The last time I saw a head like that was in a bottle of formaldehyde.
Tony: Told you he was sick.
Dr. Hackenbush: [pointing to Stuffy's neck] That's all pure desecration along there. He's got about a 15% metabolism, with an overactive thyroid and a glandular affectation of about 3%.
Tony: That's bad.
Dr. Hackenbush: With a 1% mentality.
Dr. Hackenbush: He's what we designate as the crummy moronic type. All in all, this is the most gruesome looking piece of blubber I've ever peered at.
Tony: Hey doc. Hey doc!
Dr. Hackenbush: Huh?
Tony: You gotta the looking glass turned around, you're looking at yourself.

Mostly we just went so that we could put Marx Bros quotes on our blog.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Jatbula Trail

We spent the week of July 10th to the 14th just East of Katherine on the Jatbula trail that runs from the Katherine Gorge to Edith Falls. This perhaps will be noted as the turning point in our time down here. It was really good for us to get out and see the country. It was also a good couple strengthening exercise, and reminded us how well we work as a team.

We were joined on the trip by a colleague, Martin, and two friends of his Gary and Robin. Unfortunately, one person wasn't able to make it, so we ended up being just 5 people. The walk is about 60km total (depending on which map you read), and we pretty much just settled into a rutine of getting up and hiking to that day's campsite and resting the rest of the afternoon. They only allow 10 people a day on the trail, so reservations had to be made about a month or so in advance. This will probably get even more difficult as the trail has been shown in Australian Geographic, and is highly recommended by everyone we've talked to. Hopefully they don't change how many people are allowed on the trail, because it definitely helps to keep the campsites in good condition. They've done a fantastic job marking the trail, and several of the campsites had composting toilets. Quite the luxury (in the least you didn't need to carry out your TP)! David remarked to Jenni, "I'll go backpacing on any trail that has a toilet." He might have been a bit too enthusiastic, after all humans have been doing like bears (and popes) for thousands of years.

Day 1 Nitmiluk Centre to Northern Rockhole to Biddlecombe Cascades

Northern Rockhole was the first stop. Some of our party dove in for a mid-afternoon swim




This was about 100 meters away from the campsite. What will come as a shock to you Coloradoans (and those in the US) is you can drink this water. Tastes great too! Less Filling! No worries about water-born illnesses. So that meant we didn't have to carry anymore water than what we needed for that day, because each campsite had either a river or waterhole of some kind. (Photographers Note: The image below was created using a technique called HDR. It allows you to combine multiple exposures of the same photo and create some interesting effects.)





Red-tailed cockatoos above the campground.







Day 2 Biddlecombe Cascades to Crystal Falls

Setting out on day two.




There was some Aboriginal rock art along the way.





Face in a knotted old tree.




Well-marked trail. It wasn't usually necessary to have so many markers, because the trail has become well-worn, but a few years ago before it became popular, they were necessary.




Martin's Shoes deserve special attention. He purchased these shoes in 2000 and they were second-hand at the time. Unfortunately they were not the best shoes to have on this hike. They started to bug him on the second day, in particular rubbing and blisters around his ankle. Martin's solution was to revolution shoe design and create specially modified hiking boots by cutting off the offending pieces. On day two he removed the ankle support using a rather dull Swiss Army knife.





Always conscientious, Martin takes "Leave No Trace" to a new extreme.





Cascade Falls campground. David didn't get a snapshot of the actual cascade falls.







Kingfisher at the campground.




Day 3 Crystal Falls to the Amphitheater to 17 Mile Falls

Mist on the river at Crystal Falls campground.

The Amphitheater was a slight detour from the main trail, but had some amazing Aboriginal Rock Art. Unfortunately Jenni and David missed some of the bigger galleries, because the trail appeared to end.





Jenni in front of 17 Miles Falls




Rock resembling David.






Third Campground







We divided the dinner duties amongst the original 6 people, so Martin got stuck carrying the food and cooking for us by himself. Jenni and David had the first night, but brought WAY too much pasta and ended up carrying that for almost the whole trip. Pasta is surprisingly heavy. Martin the second night, and Gary and Robin the third night. The last night we threw all we had left together and created a buffet style feast. On the outside of Gary and Robin's dinner looked like complete and utter chaos. Sometimes it even like they were working against each other. But this was just on the outside, because their system worked, and they produced another fantastic meal. We definitely ate well on the trip.







Martin's Shoe part two. Ankles were feeling in top shape by the second day, but blisters on his toes were causing problems. His shoes were too tight in the front, causing pressure on his front toes. This was also helped by the fact that the sole was beginning to detach itself from the shoe, so it was necessary to tape the shoe together but the tape added more pressure to the toes. Solution 2: cut out some space for the toes (while the shoe was off mind you). Martin has copyrighted this design, so no stealing his intellectual property.





Day 4 17 Mile Falls to Sandy Camp Pool

This spot quickly became everyone's favorite spot to camp at. The tents could be placed on the sand, and it would be like camping on the beach. Like camping on the beach, sand got everywhere, but that was ok too. We never found the composting toilet for this one, but there were really no places to build one.

There were actually freshies in this pool (freshwater crocs). We could see their eyes at night. Probably small ones, and they didn't bug us and we didn't bother them.







On Day five we hiked out to Edith falls and headed home.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Terror Tree


David's Personal Narrative:

Did you know Territory is actually pronounced Terror-Tree? I now know why this is the case. It is because trees live in fear of being ignited into flames on Territory Day. Territory Day is the Northern Territory's anniversary of self-governance. "Hooray we're self-governing!!! What should we do to celebrate it?" Naturally, you "blow shit up." Pardon my language, but it is the only phrase in the English language to adequately describe Territory Day. The Fourth of July pales in comparison, but any coordinated attempt at a Fireworks display isn't comparable to chaos with a bottle of beer and a lighter. Never have I seen so many stupid people with lethal weapons, and never have I wanted to be one of them more than anything in the world. Territory Day was last night - July 1st. And for one day of the year, and only on that day, the citizens of the Northern Territory are allowed to purchase and use Fireworks (called "crackers"). Yes, the city puts on its own display, but I think most people had a larger budget. We're not talking about little fireworks that you might dash across the Wyoming border to purchase, we're talking about straight from China has to be illegal fireworks. Unfortunately, these photos do not do it justice. It is really quite spectacular.









Beach fire on the left. Someone probably using a flare gun in the distance (red light), might have actually needed help...





We walked along the bike path to get home. These are my "war correspondent" photos. It was handheld and dark out, so most are fairly blurry.





Terror-tree!





Apparently canons are allowed too.





Probably the most fun we've had since moving here.